The Scoop: A well-cushioned, performance-oriented daily trainer, the Launch continues to evolve since it was brought back from extinction by Brooks in 2014. With an energetic vibe from the BioMoGo DNA midsole cushioning and responsive outsole rubber, it has enough cushion to log high-mileage training but plenty of zip to tackle speedier workouts too. A new single-piece engineered mesh upper gives this edition a breezier feel, better fit, greater breathability and enhanced flexibility.

Who It’s Best For: A wide range of runners who appreciate the ability to run faster workouts such as tempo runs, fartleks and various long run derivations. The Launch 5 is a true do-everything shoe that does everything pretty well.

Plus: An internal bootie at the front of the tongue helps cinch down the foot and provide a secure, wrap-like fit with the new upper material.

Minus: A few of our wear-testers thought the ride was a bit too bouncy at slower speeds and didn’t result in a very smooth ride.

]]>Fueling for a Run: Tips, Tricks and Mythshttps://www.motivrunning.com/nutrition-for-runners/fueling-run-tips-tricks-myths/
Mon, 12 Mar 2018 02:29:22 +0000https://newmrlive.wpengine.com/?p=73782Truths and untruths about fueling for a run.

]]>Sometimes it can seem like you spend as much time focusing on nutrition as you do running. And with the array of products on the market and all of the advice from experts and friends, deciding what to eat and drink can be downright overwhelming. But proper fueling can make a huge difference in performance, so we talked with a few sports nutrition experts to uncover their top tips, tricks, myths and fallacies about fueling for a run.

Morning Run Myth

Kim Schwabenbauer, a sports dietitian, founder of Fuel Your Passion and professional triathlete from Clarion, Penn., says too many runners are rolling out of bed and going for runs for an hour or longer without any fuel, sometimes because they think it’s better for their stomachs.

“Every runner can and should eat breakfast and fuel during these training runs and races. I have never met a runner I could not fuel—sometimes with a bit of trial and error,” she says. “Never say, ‘I can’t’ in running, life or fueling!”

Schwabenbauer recommends waking up 30–60 minutes before a longer run to allow time to top off circulating blood glucose with a small high-carbohydrate snack like a Nutri-Grain bar, bagel thin with jelly or oatmeal, plus consume 12–20 oz. of water or sports drink, “so you are ready to rock your long run.” Every 35–45 minutes (for runs over the 1-hour mark), have 50g of carbohydrates via sports drink and gels/blocks to keep sodium levels up and carbs available “to avoid the bonk.”

The Truth About Bananas

You’ve likely noticed all the bananas races, and you’ve probably heard how important it is to replenish potassium. But Wendy Bazilian, a doctor of public health and nutritionist in San Diego, says the most important electrolyte for exercise is sodium. “Many people believe that potassium is the most important electrolyte, especially because sodium (in general) gets such a bad rap in the general diet (and at times, deservedly so). But in an athlete/active person, sodium is the primary electrolyte to pay attention to since so much can be lost in hard training or endurance events,” she says.

A sports drink before, during and after running can ensure a constant stream of sodium. Bazilian says potassium is also important, but bananas aren’t enough for either fuel or recovery. She says, “Sodium also helps increase the desire to drink, helps with absorption and overall fluid balance.”

Sugar Tip

There’s a lot of pressure these days to eschew sugar, but that shouldn’t be the mantra of runners, says Lauren Antonucci, the director of Nutrition Energy in New York and a specialist in sports dietetics. She says runners need this sweet fuel to decrease injury risk and have longevity in sport.

“I see many women runners ‘afraid’ to take in sports drinks/gels/calories and sugar during training and racing and that is a big mistake,” she says. “We need the carbs/sugar to fuel our bodies.”

Hydration Trick

Bazilian has worked with many athletes who aren’t good at drinking enough—whether water or sports drink. “There’s a million reasons why you could be distracted,” she says. Her solution? “Count and measure your sips and gulps.” She says most runners should consume about 4–6 oz. every 15–20 minutes, so if you figure out how quickly you tend to down that amount, then you’ll know how much to drink during training and racing.

“When you’re out running, you’re not going to be exactly measuring out every time you take some sips from your bottle. Of course, you can draw lines on your bottle as a reference or take a look at your bottle to estimate, but it’s even easier if you know how many sips or gulps it takes for you to drink a certain amount.” She recommends measuring out water and practicing to determine your intake levels. Do it a few times over a couple of days to determine an average. Then whether you carry a bottle or hit a hydration station while racing, you can dial in how many sips to take and how often.

Protein Myth

Bazilian says people tend to think we need much more protein than we actually do, and Americans tend to eat more than necessary. The key for runners is to pay attention to how much and when you eat protein. “According to science, as little as 10g of protein has been shown to kick-start muscle repair,” she says, “but consuming about 20g of protein shortly following exercise has been the best to aid in muscle recovery.”

It’s also important to pair 10-20g of protein with carbohydrates for the most benefit for your muscles. “Protein helps replenish (glycogen, alongside carbohydrates), repair and rebuild,” Bazilian says.

Tricks for a Tender Tummy

GI issues on long runs tend to make runners want to skimp on calories and fluids, but Antonucci says, “Many times those issues can be abated with adequate fueling. Fuel early and often—don’t wait until 1-plus hours in to fuel.”

There are also studies that suggest gargling with a sports drink instead of ingesting it can increase performance without making an already testy stomach worse mid-run. Schwabenbauer says, “We have been programmed to like and respond to the ‘sweet’ taste of drinks, candy, etc., so this may go back to the very beginning of time when we responded to different stimuli to help us run away from bears and avoid poisonous foods.”

Fat Lies

Schwabenbauer cautions about the hype around depletion runs—“going out on a very long run with no fuel before and very little (if any) during.” She says the scientific benefits and risks are unknown, and acknowledges elite runners searching for the gains of fat adaptation may find an edge from these types of run, but “the majority of people should focus on stressing the body in other ways, such as increasing mileage or adding slight bits of intensity.”

“The risk of not recovering well from these types of runs, especially late in the training cycle, is very high and could sideline a runner for days, if not weeks, if they get sick or injured,” she explains. “Take calculated risks and make it to the race safe and healthy!”

]]>“Doubles” or “two-a-days,” are running’s answer to graduate degrees in the education world. By themselves, they don’t imply that you’re outstanding in your field, but they do establish that you’re serious and persistent about your goals.

One backdoor way to determine whether doubles are something you should entertain is to slay a few common misconceptions about them.

1) Once you start running twice a day, it’s a forever thing.

Nope. Sometimes doubles are invoked for specific training blocks and they can be put on ice after the goal race is in the books. It might just be that you want to increase your fitness quickly and without the breakdown of longer runs.

2) Starting two-a-days implies working toward a regular, even everyday, commitment to doubles.

While you’ll meet a lot of higher-mileage runners who run doubles five times a week (or do them a set number of times each week), there is no rational basis for not simply adding them in when you feel up to it, be that once every two weeks or every day (the latter, of course, after a proper ramping-up).

3) You shouldn’t make the jump to doubles until you reach a certain mileage level.

This is an inversion of the (perfectly sound) idea that above a certain mileage level, you almost certainly should incorporate doubles. But there’s no logic in it. There are a lot of smart reasons to add a second daily run a few times per week. The most obvious ones are that you can add mileage safely and in a less time-consuming manner. For example, you might not have time for a 10-miler during your day, but you probably have time for two 5-milers. Also, if you run a 16-miler as a single daily run, you’ll likely need more recovery time from that than you would if you ran two 8-milers.

4) Two-a-days are for only elite runners or people aiming to be elite.

Incorrect. See above. While you’ll see a lot of double workout days in the training logs of top runners, that doesn’t mean that speedy pros have a monopoly on them, any more than quality clubs or expensive putting lessons are the sole purview of professional golfers. Beginners and intermediate runners can benefit from running twice a day as a means to safely add to their weekly mileage, recover better and increase aerobic fitness.

5) Your longest/hardest effort of a double-run day should be in the morning/evening.

Spot the problem yet? The answer here is it doesn’t really matter when you run your harder workout of the day. It certainly makes logical sense to get your harder run out of the way first because it allows your second run of the day to be more of a recovery-based effort. By default, it will be less mentally and physically stressful later in the day if your second run is an easy run. However, there are plenty of situations in which it makes sense to run harder during your second run of the day. You might need a slow run to start your day, depending on what kind of recovery your body needs. If you’re not a morning person, it might be hard for you to run faster efforts in the morning before you really wake up. It also might be that you’re running with a group of runners in the afternoon or evening that will help push you to your goals in the afternoon.

6) You’re more likely to get injured if you adopt double-run days on a regular basis.

There’s no evidence this is the case. Some people, in fact, stay healthier and more fresh distributing a given workload across a greater number of workouts, because running while tired—such as in the final 20 minutes of a 10-miler—often puts people at a greater injury risk than a pair of 5-milers thanks to the form breakdown, glycogen depletion and muscle tissue damage that strike more often in longer bouts of perambulation.

]]>People tell you that having a baby changes everything, but you can’t fully comprehend those sentiments until that sweet bundle makes his or her entrance into the world. As a longtime runner, when I was pregnant with our first baby I thought a lot about how being a mom might affect my running life.

While I was fortunate to start some easy running a month after having our daughter (now 18 months) and have since gotten back into a more regular routine, I’ve discovered both unexpected and welcome changes to my long-held running regimen.

In the early months, things like sleep deprivation and the feeding schedule affected my ability to maintain any regular mileage, but more recently, my approach to running has changed in other more satisfying ways. I now look at my daily run as not just something I do to reach an arbitrary goal, but rather, to help me remain of sound body and mind so I can be the best mom possible. This has aided me in rediscovering what I love most about running—the simple act of movement and immersion in the outdoors. Best of all, whether my daughter joins me in the stroller or is waiting for me when I get home, running allows me the opportunity to model a healthy lifestyle for her.

Since I am still early in my mom journey, I reached out to other running moms, in all stages of motherhood, to get their advice on what they’ve learned over the months and years. Some offered more logistical tips, like how to run with a jogging stroller or fit in a workout when your teenagers are involved in countless extracurriculars. Others provided a more philosophical take on life balance and the importance of self-care for moms. Hopefully you will find their advice as useful as I have.

If you look closely, you may notice that Erin Taylor and her daughter are both wearing New Balance shoes. As children enter the toddler years, letting them dress the part of runner will make them all the more excited to cheer you on from their stroller. Photo provided by Erin Taylor.

1. Approach your running comeback with patience

It’s hard to know where you’ll be physically and emotionally during the postpartum period. That’s why patience during this time is so vital. Professional runner Sarah Brown, who has a 2-year-old daughter, shared with me that she thought that after running through pregnancy, she’d feel light and bouncy as soon as she hit the road after giving birth. “It was the total opposite,” she says. “My form was off and I basically still ran like a pregnant woman, just without a belly.”

She emphasized the importance of baby steps. “Take it one day at a time, and be happy with what you can accomplish,” she says. “If something isn’t going right, readjust. Consider every day progress—no matter how big or small.”

Erin Taylor, mother of a 2-year-old and founder of Jasyoga, as well as author of the new book Work In: The Athlete’s Plan for Real Recovery and Winning Results, urges new moms to remember one very important fact, “You just made a human being and so it will take time to get back into the running shape and rhythm you’re used to. It takes a minimum of 18-months for your body—specifically your internal organs—to return to pre-pregnancy state. Plus the early days of motherhood well into the toddler years and beyond are full of new demands, so be fluid in your approach to postpartum running and fitness.”

Jennifer Faraone, a coach, author of The Athletic Mom To-Be, and mother of kids ages 8 and 11, offers similar advice, saying that having compassion for yourself at this time is key. “It’s so easy to judge and compare ourselves to what we were doing in the past and how many hours a week we were training compared to now—this only de-motivates and discourages us,” she says. “What if we were to start congratulating ourselves for what we are doing? The actual amount of exercise is not what’s important right now, what’s important is that you’re doing something. It’s a great start and will only get better as time moves forward.”

2. Set reasonable expectations

Whether your kids are in the infant, toddler, tween or teen years, be sure to look at the larger landscape of your life when setting running goals. “It’s important to take the long view and realize that life has many stages,” advises Sarah Lavender Smith, author of The Trail Runner’s Companion, who has two kids, ages 16 and 20. “If you’re a new parent or adjusting to going back to work while juggling parenting, then it’s probably not the best time to train for a PR at a goal race.”

When her kids were 2 and 5 and she went back to work, she deferred her running goals for six months and began to look at running as a stress reliever, rather than let training adding to her stress load. “That way I didn’t feel badly about reducing my training volume; instead, I savored each run even though it was shorter than I’d like, and I kept the faith that I’d return to higher-intensity training the following year after adjusting to the new job,” she says.

So how can you determine what goals might be reasonable? That can be challenging particularly in the postpartum period. “Women often assume they will return to a certain pace or endurance before their bodies, and their new lifestyle, are truly ready,” Rachel McHale, program manager for FIT4MOM Run Club and mother of a 16-, 13- and 5-year-old told me. “We suggest setting short term goals that allow mom to acknowledge this amazing stage of life she and her baby are in, while also encouraging progress. And allow space in goal setting her baby’s growth spurts or other unplanned events that may impact a mom’s routine.”

3. Sleep when you can

This piece of advice has been echoed in the pages of every parenting book ever written: sleep when the baby sleeps. But seriously, what about all the other things you need to get done? Especially in the early days with a baby, professional ultrarunner Liza Howard, mother of a 4-year-old and a 10-year-old, says to just forget about that stuff. “Being sleep deprived is so hard to avoid as a mom, in part because it’s impossible to accomplish the things you need to do when your kids are awake, so you end up filling the hours when they’re asleep with ‘to dos’ instead of going to bed yourself,” she says.

While your kitchen may be clean and the laundry folded, sleep deprivation is a sure way to derail training goals. “When you consistently get eight hours of sleep you’ll have the motivation to get out for runs and you’ll be able to run harder when you’re out there,” Howard says. “You’re also less likely to get injured and more likely to lose any postpartum weight that you don’t want.”

4. Ease into stroller running

Many new moms who are runners have ambitions to run with their baby in the stroller. While this can be a great bonding activity and make running more likely to happen, it’s no walk in the park. “As if running without a stroller weren’t already hard enough, pushing 15, 30, 50 or more pounds makes maintaining solid form super challenging,” Taylor says. “It’s kind of like running with a full shopping cart.”

She advises warming up the core, glutes, and upper back prior to a run. Check out her awesome stroller running warm up here and be sure to ease into doing any significant mileage with your little one in tow.

5. Get into a routine with breastfeeding

Many moms find exercise challenging and uncomfortable when they are in the thick of breastfeeding. Even still, Faraone says, “There’s no reason why you can’t train and breastfeed at the same time.”

Here are her tips to make it easier:

-Breastfeed before exercising. This will make your breasts feel considerably less heavy and more comfortable while exercising.

-Try pumping. If you are concerned about missing a feeding while exercising for a long period of time, try expressing your milk with a pump and storing it in the fridge before heading out the door.

-Relax. If your child seems to fuss while breastfeeding immediately after your workout, wait a few minutes then try again.

-Invest in a supportive sports bra. This is key to being comfortable. Ensure that the bra is not too tight, as this could lead to blocked ducts and mastitis.

-Remove your wet, sweaty bra right away. Hanging out in your sweaty clothes, where bacteria likes to grow, can also lead to mastitis. If you can’t remove your bra right away, wipe your breasts with a washcloth or wipe.

6. Strike a balance in your fitness routine

As Taylor says, “Momming is the ultimate endurance event.” That includes not only giving birth, but also everything that comes along with parenting. As a result, it’s important not to neglect some of the supplemental work that will keep you up and running long term.

“Really focus on the small things,” says Brown. “Do core strengthening exercises specifically geared toward postpartum rebuilding. You can start these exercises even before you hit the roads again.”

Taylor also recommends balancing your running routine with a yoga practice. “Yoga is a great way to optimize your performance and wellbeing if you approach it as a tool to maintain balance amid the physical, mental and emotional challenges of motherhood, rather than just another way to push your body,” she said. “Embrace doing what you can, when you can, even if that means meditating while your baby sleeps on you or stretching your hips while your toddler plays with Legos next to you.”

The author posing with her baby after their first 5K together. Photo: Courtesy of Mackenzie Havey.

7. Get creative with getting in workouts

Fitting in training can be quite a balancing act for moms. It’s all about getting organized and adjusting when necessary. “Your new training regime may look completely different than it did prior to having kids, and that’s okay,” said Faraone. “For some couples, it involves sitting down with their partner every week and planning workouts around your child’s activities and your respective work schedules and for others, it’s about focusing on the things that matter most and letting go of some of the more mundane activities.”

As kids get older, many moms told me that sports games and practices provide the perfect opportunity to move. “Because I do so much more driving now, being able to get out of the car helps me physically and mentally—I am much less resentful about being the hired driver if I can get my workout in,” says Kara Thom, author of Hot Sweaty Mamas and mother to two kids, ages 9 and 14. “Usually I have an hour or hour-and-a-half slot during a softball practice, diving lesson or basketball camp to do my own thing, so I become familiar with the nearby trails every place my kids go.”

“When my son was heavily involved with baseball in middle school, I often arranged for him to get a ride with another family so that I could run to and from his games,” adds Lavender Smith. “Or, if I was the carpool driver, then I’d spend the first half of the game running around nearby and only watch the second half of the game.”

8. Reframe guilt

Getting motivated to get out the door for a run is often hard enough; add to that the feelings of guilt many moms experience for taking time away from their kids to train. “It took me a few conversations with my own mother about this, as I was thinking that I was being selfish by doing something for myself when I should be with my children,” says Andrea Duke a 2:41 marathoner and mother to a 9- and 6- year old. “What she told me stuck: To be a good mom, I need to be happy. And if working out makes me happy, then I should do it. And what better way to show your kids how to work for a goal, push yourself, take chances and never give up?”

Meredith Atwood, mother of a 9- and 10-year-old, as well as an Ironman triathlete, the brains behind Swim Bike Mom blog, and author of Triathlon for Every Woman, shares similar sentiments saying, “I learned early on in my triathlon journey to take time for myself, recognizing that if my children didn’t have a happy mom, I would not be a good mom to them. As they’ve gotten older, however, setting a healthy example for my kids is what continues to get me out of bed in the morning to run.”

Sara Hall, a professional runner and mother of four girls ages 17, 14, 10, and 7 years old, says that for her, the key to pushing back on the guilt factor is to emphasize quality over quantity when it comes to connecting with her children. “I try to make sure that every day each child gets at least 15 minutes of my undivided attention alone, away from other family members,” she explained. “Of course I am with them a lot more than that each day, but I make sure there is a period where I am loving them in their ‘love language,’ whether that is having fun playing a game just the two of us, cuddling on the couch, or listening to them process their day.”

9. Recruit kids to join

There are countless ways to involve children of all ages in the sport that you love. “We encourage moms to check out local events to participate in, many places host family run events,” says McHale. “Or ditch the car and run, skate or ride to the neighborhood playground.”

With that said, Lavender Smith emphasizes that kids shouldn’t be pressured to participate. “It’s fine to invite them to run a 5K with you, just be prepared for them to say ‘no,’ and act totally OK with their decision, even if inwardly you feel disappointed,” she advises. “Encourage your kids to be healthy and outdoorsy by the example you set, but let them explore and discover sports according to their own interests.”

Simply role modeling the running life for your kids—even if they don’t run themselves—can pay off in big ways. “Running has been a great way for me to teach my kids life skills,” Hall says. “They have had to see me persevere through some big disappointments, and I’ve invited them into the process to see what it looks like to go after something hard and how to not fear failure. I also show them how to pick yourself back up after defeat and hope and believe again, and how your victories that follow are that much more meaningful.”

Fresh air is just as important for little ones as it is for adults, and, with the right gear and plenty of snacks, you can make runs a family experience. Photo: Shutterstock.com

]]>A few years ago, Dean Whitmire, a motorcycle sales manager in Lindsey, Ohio, started jogging to lose weight and to improve his health after a scary doctor’s appointment. Over the next two and a half years, as Whitmire increased his running from two-minute spurts to full marathons, he lost 144 pounds.

Around the same time Whitmire started his weight-loss journey, Christina Haupert, a fitness blogger living in eastern Massachusetts, trained for her first marathon. Over the course of 22 weeks, she not only failed to lose weight but actually gained 10 pounds.

As these examples illustrate, running can be an effective way to lose weight, but it isn’t always. As a weight-loss method, running has pros and cons. To get the best possible results, you need to know about both so you can avoid common pitfalls and take full advantage of running’s fat-burning potential.

Also, it’s important to note that runners come in all shapes and sizes, and “healthy” is a relative term that’s not confined to a number on the scale or a specific body mass index rating.

Pro: Running burns a lot of calories

Exercise promotes weight loss primarily by burning calories, and running burns a lot of calories. The good news is that this is true whether you’re fast or slow. You will burn about 0.75 calorie per pound you weigh per mile you run regardless of your speed. So, if you weigh 150 pounds and you run 5 miles, you will burn approximately 562 calories.

Research by Paul Williams, an epidemiologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, suggests that running is more effective than other forms of exercise in promoting weight loss, and the reason may be that runners tend to measure exercise doses in distance instead of time. If you coast through a 45-minute indoor cycling class, you won’t burn nearly as many calories as you would if you pushed hard for the same duration, but again, the number of calories you burn per mile you run is unaffected by pace. Also, that 45-minute indoor cycling class is always 45 minutes—the instructor decides that—whereas if you want to burn more calories through running, all you have to do is run more. It’s up to you!

Con: Running increases appetite and reward eating

It would be nice if every calorie you burned through running contributed to weight loss, but that’s not the case. Human appetite is highly sensitive to activity levels, so the more you run, the more you’ll want to eat. For most people, the increase in appetite that comes with running does not completely negate the calories burned in workouts, so that weight loss is still possible, but for others it does.

In addition to increasing appetite, running triggers reward eating in certain individuals. As the name implies, reward eating is a habit of indulging in high-calorie food treats after completing a workout and it can counteract the calorie-burning effect of running even in the absence of increased appetite. Remember that example of a 562-calorie run I gave earlier? A single bakery cupcake eaten to celebrate that run contains the same number of calories, making it as if the run never happened.

When Christina Haupert trained for her third marathon in 2015, instead of using her running as a free pass to eat whatever she wanted, she timed her treats, indulging in things like chocolate-covered peanuts or a donut only after her longest run of each week. The result? Instead of gaining weight (as she had done when training for both her first and second marathons), she lost a few pounds.

Resisting an increase in appetite is more difficult than resisting a desire for food rewards, and in fact you shouldn’t even try. Nobody can maintain the willpower to exist in a state of constant hunger for very long. Instead of fighting that doomed battle, shift your diet toward more satiating food choices so you’re able to satisfy your appetite with fewer calories. Examples are baked and boiled potatoes, beans, eggs, oatmeal and vegetables.

Pro: Running is enjoyable

No matter how much weight you lose through running, you will need to continue running to keep the weight off. And you will only continue to run if you fall in love with it. Ask any longtime runner to identify their top reasons for running and they will rank enjoyment ahead of weight management, even if they started running for the sole purpose of losing weight.

At some point in your own running journey, you will need to fall in love with it. The best way to facilitate this process is to train for an event such as a 5K. There’s something magical about training for a race and crossing a finish line that makes new runners want to keep running, not just for the benefits but for the running itself. Try it and you’ll see!

Con: Running is a high-impact activity

Perhaps the biggest drawback of running is that, unlike other forms of cardio exercise such as swimming and cycling, it is a high-impact activity. Consequently, overuse injuries including bone strains (such as stress fractures in the shins, feet and heels) and soft-tissue injuries (such as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis and IT band syndrome) are more common among runners. To make matters worse, the injury risk is greatest in larger and heavier runners.

The best way to avoid impact-related injuries is to ease into it. If you’re both new to running and overweight, start with walking. This will initiate the process of making your bones, muscles and connective tissues more durable. When you’re ready, sprinkle short bouts of running into your walks. Over a period of a few weeks, gradually lengthen these walking bouts until you are able to run from start to finish.

If you want to maximize fat-burning while also minimizing injury risk, run every other day and do a non-impact cardio workout (swimming, spinning or cycling) on alternate days. This will give your legs plenty of time to recover from the stress of your runs without requiring that you just sit around and wait. After a few more weeks on this routine, you can move to daily running if you wish.

Pro: Running makes diet changes easier

According to most obesity experts, dietary improvements are more effective than increases in activity for weight loss. Although this may be true in principle, however, it is seldom true in practice because people have trouble making diet changes stick. The great thing about running (and other forms of exercise) is that it makes improved eating habits easier to sustain.

This was shown in a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine in 2013, which found that overweight subjects who started exercising at the same time they made diet changes did a better job of sticking to these changes and lost more weight than other subjects who changed their diet first and then started exercising. The authors of the study reasoned that the first group got better results because exercise makes people feel good about themselves in a way that makes them want to eat healthier.

So, which specific changes should you make to your diet? I recommend increasing the overall quality of your diet by eating fewer processed foods (particularly refined grains, sweets, fried foods and processed meats) and avoiding eating when you’re not hungry.

Con: Running is easy to do incorrectly

One of the attractions of running is its simplicity. This doesn’t mean everyone is born knowing how to run most effectively for weight loss, however. Left to their own devices, most people run at the same moderate intensity day after day. But research has shown that people get fitter and shed more body fat if they take a so-called polarized approach to running, doing some of their training at a comfortable effort level (70-75 percent of maximum heart rate) and the rest at a challenging high intensity (>90 percent).

A 2014 study by Austrian researchers, for example, found that runners and other endurance athletes who did about half of their training at low intensity and half at high intensity lost 3.7 percent of their initial body weight in nine weeks, while other athletes who did most of their training at moderate intensity lost no weight.

High-intensity running should be done in the form of interval workouts, where short bursts of fast running are separated by low-intensity recovery periods. In a well-executed interval session you will do all of the intervals at a consistent speed and finish the last one feeling you could have done one or at most two more at the same speed. The optimal running plan for weight loss will include a balance of high-intensity interval runs and steady, low-intensity runs, as in this example week:

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

Interval Run

5:00 warm-up

10 x 30 secs fast/1:30 slow

5 min. cool-down

Easy Run

30 min. slow

Interval Run

5:00 warm-up

7 x 1 min. fast/2 min slow

5 min. cool-down

Easy Run

30 min. slow

Interval Run

5:00 warm-up

12 x 0:20 fast/1:40 slow

5 min. cool-down

Easy Run

45 min slow

Rest

You can lose weight by running. The keys to success are training correctly, improving your diet at the same time you begin running, taking steps to avoid injury, avoiding the pitfalls of overeating and reward eating, and most important, falling in love with it!

]]>What it Means to Be a Female Runner Todayhttps://www.motivrunning.com/running-life/means-female-runner-today/
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:25:37 +0000https://newmrlive.wpengine.com/?p=58042Are you a female and a runner? Welcome to the club!

Behind the steering wheel, you pass her on your way to the grocery store. She’s wearing colorful capris, has her phone in one hand, and is bobbing along, lost in her own thoughts.

Or maybe you notice a pair of them as you carpool your kids to soccer. You’re riding the brake down a steep hill, and your quads wince as you see them grinding up the incline, not letting themselves off the hook.

Or you could see her as you head to your office, when the sky is just pinking up. She’s waiting at a stoplight. Her gray tee is mostly soaked, her headlamp is still blinking. She’s covered some serious ground in the dark.

These women could be 22, 43 or 65 years old. They could be new to running or have crossed 24 marathon finish lines. They could average 8-minute miles or 18- minute miles. They could be one of the 9.7 million females who, according to Running USA, finished a road race in 2016.

Really, though, the numbers don’t matter much when you consider the whole. Collectively, they are Female Runners today, a time when two things dominate the estrogen-laced running landscape: a team mentality and an appreciation for the places—often beyond the finish line—that running takes us.

If you are female, and you run, you are part of the tribe of Female Runners today. Welcome! As cofounder of Another Mother Runner, I am delighted to be a part of this movement, as is Sarah Bowen Shea, my fellow co-founder.

The two things that dominate women’s running today are a team mentality and an appreciation for the places that running takes us. Photo: Brian Metzler

We won’t deny that race finishing times continue to matter; part of the allure of running is the crispness and objectivity of numbers. But perhaps a bigger part of the allure of running is the human connection the simple movement provides. Today, mind-spinning news assaults us 24/7; most work hours don’t have a hard start or stop time; and we spend (at least) 75 percent of our days over the steering wheel or the keyboard. Ultimately, running is a salve that soothes us step by step, mile by mile.

Breathing fresh air and listening to our footfalls, running connects us back to our physical bodies and wandering spirits. And it intimately bonds us when solo runs become group endeavors, whether that means logging miles side-by-side with a friend, heading out with a pack at a run club or chatting in the starting corral before you begin a race. You’re among people who get you, who understand your motivation for (reluctantly) rising in the dark for a Monday morning sweat session and (happily) going to bed at 8:45 p.m. on a Friday night before Saturday’s long run. They understand why going faster is worth hours of analyzing your GPS, even though you’ll never win the race—or your age group. No matter how long it took to finish that 5-mile out-and-back, the post-run, parking-lot chatter with your fellow runners makes you feel accepted, loved, part of the cool crowd. (Feelings, it should be noted, that are harder and harder to come by these days.)

Although running isn’t immune to the social media sheen (how many pictures did you take before you posted that one selfie?), it vitally glues us together. You can grab and give kudos on Strava for a new personal best, cheers on Twitter for a first 10K, and likes on Instagram for frost-covered eyelashes on a January morning.

Yes, consistently refreshing your feed is a dopamine-laced procrastination tactic, but it’s well worth the flick of your thumb. Validation and praise, especially coming from fellow female runners, is ridiculously motivating. And, as plenty of women who meet #IRL can testify, the connection formed on the Internet is as solid as a friend you’ve known for years. Running is simultaneously basic and challenging enough that those who stick with it are intimately bonded.

Social media also reminds us that the uniforms of today’s team are not one-size-fits-all. Shalane Flanagan, a whippet in bun huggers who won the 2017 New York City Marathon, and Mary Sutter, who recently lost 170 pounds and finished the same 26.2 miles in 9+ hours, are both vital parts of this movement. Thankfully, we are steadily chipping away at the idea of a stereotypical profile of a runner’s body; female runners today are curvy and lean, sizes XS to XXL, well-endowed or not so much, and pretty much everything in between.

More importantly, aspects of both Sutter and Flanagan intimately resonate with today’s range of runners. All of us, if only for a few seconds, have summoned the grit Flanagan did at mile 24 when every cell in her body was screaming STOP! (Better yet, who hasn’t exclaimed—or at least felt—that “F*ck Yeah!” sentiment she did while approaching the finish line? I’m all “F*ck Yeah” after 3 miles around my neighborhood!)

Similarly, we’ve all experienced Sutter’s determination to not quit, to simply complete what we start. “I bought the finisher shirt, so I didn’t want to return it,” she told ABC7 News. We hear you, Mary; we wouldn’t want to return it either.

Some of us amass finishers tees, while others rarely cross a finish line. No biggie; the most valuable aspects of being a runner are available on any road, trail or treadmill and appear at any pace. You just have to show up and go.

Every mile you run leaves an impression on you. It could tighten a bolt on your confidence and loosen your grip on an unyielding (false) idea you have about yourself. It could remind you of your ability to pick your own path and generate your own power. It could fast forward you to your future self, and rewind to show you how far you’ve come. It could provide much-needed clarity. It could give you space to be present, to be grateful, to be raw. It could saturate your spirit with love.

Are those things taking place for the fellow female runners you see trotting around your neighborhood? Likely. Did they occur during Flanagan and Sutter’s marathons? My guess is yes. Will they come to pass when you lace up—and possibly post on social media? Absolutely. #goteam

Another Mother Runner founders Sarah Bowen Shea (left) and Dimity McDowell (right) have been promoting running to women for 10 years through books, online content and camps.

]]>Why You Hit the Wall in Your Last Marathonhttps://www.motivrunning.com/runner-training/marathon-training/hit-wall-last-marathon/
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:14:45 +0000https://newmrlive.wpengine.com/?p=71772How to avoid hitting the wall in your next marathon.

]]>If you hit the wall in your last marathon, you’re in good company. According to one study, 43 percent of runners hit the wall in any given marathon. It makes sense, right? Running 26.2 miles is a huge undertaking. What makes it so challenging to run a solid marathon is that the wall is not a single thing. You can run out of steam in the late miles for any of a number of reasons.

Solving the marathon puzzle requires that you identify the specific reason you hit the wall and address it in the next one. Let’s look at six common causes of hitting the wall and how to avoid them.

1. You overemphasized the long run in training.

A marathon is a long race, and you have to do some long training runs to avoid fading in the late miles. But what’s even more important is the total amount of running you do. A study by Ron Maughan, PhD, of Scotland’s Aberdeen University found that average weekly training mileage was a much better predictor of performance in a marathon than the longest distance of a single training run.

If you seldom or never ran more than 40 miles or five times in a week before your last marathon, consider bumping up your average weekly mileage the next time around. And even if you ran more than 40 miles per week, a modest increase in overall training volume may be the key to avoiding another encounter with the wall.

2. You set an overambitious goal or started too fast.

Many runners set marathon time goals on the basis of their performance at shorter distances, and there are various calculators available for this purpose. These tools tend to work pretty well up to the half marathon. For example, if you plug a recent 5K time into one of them, the predicted 10K and half-marathon times it comes back with will likely be realistic for you. But few runners are able to hit predicted marathon times, because the calculators assume commensurate preparation for all distances. In other words, they assume you will be as well prepared for the marathon as you were for the shorter race you used as the basis for your marathon goal, and this is rarely the case among recreational racers, who tend to train more or less the same for races of all distances.

Thus, when runners start a marathon at the pace that one of these calculators assures them they can sustain for 26.2 miles, they tend to hit the wall. And even when runners base their marathon goal on other targets (such as round numbers and Boston Marathon qualifying standards), they very often start too fast and fade.

The best way to avoid this situation, according to Hoka One One Northern Arizona Elite coach Ben Rosario, is to choose a marathon goal that represents the fastest pace you are 100 percent certain you can sustain for the full distance based on your recent training and prior marathons you’ve done. If it turns out you can go a little faster, you’ll know this by 18 or 20 miles and it won’t be too late to speed up a bit and still run the fastest time you were capable of that day.

3. You forgot to carbo-load.

Thanks to the anti-carb movement, many runners these days avoid carbo-loading (i.e., increasing their carbohydrate intake) before marathons. This is unfortunate, because carbo-loading is a potent way to avoid hitting the wall.

This was shown in a study conducted by Trent Stellingwerff of the Canadian Sports Centre in Victoria. Stellingwerff tracked the diets of 257 runners during the final five weeks before the 2009 London Marathon. Only 31 of these runners met established targets for carbohydrate intake on the last few days before the race (more on this below). Those 31 runners were duly rewarded, completing the marathon on average 13.4 percent faster than a group of runners matched for gender, age, body weight, training volume, and marathon experience. Most of this difference came in the final 4.5 miles, where the runners who had eaten fewer carbs the day before hit the wall and slowed down precipitously and the runners who had carbo-loaded properly slowed down much less.

Carbo-loading is easy: Just aim to get 70 percent of your total daily calories from carbs for the last three days before your marathon.

4. You under-fueled during the race.

Failure to consume adequate amounts of carbohydrates during a marathon is even more common and detrimental than failure to carbo-load. How much faster could you cover 26.2 miles if you got enough carbs? An answer comes from a 2014 study conducted by researchers at Denmark’s Aalborg University. Twenty-eight runners training for the Copenhagen Marathon were separated into two groups of equal ability based on their performance in a 10K time trial. On race day, one group used their own freely chosen fueling plan while the other group consumed carbs on a schedule of 60 grams per hour, which prior research indicated was optimal for endurance performance.

On average, the runners who executed their own freely chosen fueling plan took in 38 percent less carbohydrates during the race. They also finished an average of 10:55 or 4.7 percent slower than the runners of equal ability who fueled scientifically.

Want to lessen you chances of hitting the wall in your next marathon? Take in 60 grams of carbs per hour!

5. You forgot to strength train.

The phenomenon of local muscle fatigue is an underappreciated contributor to hitting the wall in marathons. Although we tend to think of fatigue as a general depletion of bodily energy, some of the individual muscles that work the hardest during running, such as the shock-absorbing quadriceps, lose their force-generating capacity faster than other muscles. When this happens, your stride becomes less economical, and as a result it takes more and more energy to sustain the same pace.

A 2011 study by researchers at England’s Northumbria University found that runners who scored higher on tests of muscular endurance lost their economy more slowly during a hard run. Running itself builds muscular endurance to a certain degree, but a regular strength-training program will make you more resistant to this particular cause of hitting the wall.

Be sure to include exercises specifically designed to enhance muscular endurance in your gym workouts. Examples are high-repetition strength exercises such as 20 repetitions of stability ball hamstrings curls and long-hold isometric exercises such as a side plank held for 60 seconds.

6. You let negative thoughts get the best of you.

When you begin to slow down in the late miles of a marathon, it feels inexorable, as though you have no choice. But that’s not true. While physical factors certainly do contribute to the wall, the direct causes of slowing down are perceptual: specifically, effort and pain. A runner who is good at dealing with the discomfort of the marathon is less likely to slow down near the end of the race than is a runner who is less resilient—even when their effort and pain levels are identical.

When you’re suffering in the late going of a marathon, it’s natural to think negative thoughts (e.g., “I just don’t have it today.”). But research has shown that such thoughts have a detrimental effect on performance that is completely independent of physical fatigue, and that consciously replacing such thoughts with positive alternatives (“Relax, you’ve been here before.”) enhances performance.

In a 2013 study, Samuele Marcora and colleagues at the University of Kent in England subjected twenty-four subjects to an endurance test and then separated them into two groups of 12. One group received training in positive self-talk and the other did not. When the endurance test was repeated two weeks later, the group that had been taught to practice positive self-talk performed 17 percent better while the control group showed no improvement.

Don’t neglect your mental game in training for your next marathon. Practice swapping out negative self-talk with positive thoughts in tough workouts so it comes naturally on race day.

Real talk: The percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s. Today, roughly 1 in 5 children (ages 6–19) is obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And because kids learn behaviors modeled by their parents, it’s crucial to make leading a healthy lifestyle—physical activity and good nutrition—a family affair. Regardless of whether or not weight management is a concern, being active as a family has some seriously compelling benefits: You’ll bond, have more energy and feel better. You may even earn some family bragging rights after crushing your first 5K.

Here are 10 (realistically doable) ways to set your family up for health and fitness success.

1. Sign everyone up for a fun run/race.

Whether it’s a Turkey Trot 5K, a themed fun run or a mud/obstacle race, putting an event on the family calendar will give you a tangible goal. Then schedule family training runs and work on your trash talking. Invite other families to join in the fun and award a winning family for the lowest cumulative finish time (loser buys post-race brunch). A promise: The finish line group shot—with sweaty, smiling faces and medals draped proudly around your necks—will be your new favorite family photo.

2. Incorporate kids in your training.

Especially if you have little ones, this is a key strategy for fitting in your training while not going totally MIA until your marathon/gran fondo/mud run. Invest in a Chariot bike trailer/jogger combo, or let your kids ride their bike next to you during run interval workouts. Maybe you won’t have the laser focus of a kid-free workout, but periodically inviting your kid into your training session will help them feel more connected to your goal and lifestyle. Plus, I like when my son sees his mom crushing a tough workout with a smile on her face.

3. Have fun together in the kitchen.

Make mundane meal prep feel like play by inviting your kids to be a part of the process. Get creative and experimental. Let them choose healthy recipes to test, measure out the ingredients and give them the permission to get a little messy. In my house, there’s a special pride reserved just for the dinner chef. And they won’t even know they’re getting a sneaky lesson in smarter eating.

4. Plant a garden.

Truth: Veggies that you planted, nurtured and watched grow taste better. Want to improve the odds—or frequency—of your kids eating a salad? Let them harvest their own juicy tomatoes and cucumbers, which always taste better than the ones you buy at a supermarket. They’ll learn the value of farm-to-table eating, and you’ll save yourself some green by growing your own organic produce. Win-win!

5. Take a class together.

You can break a sweat together in a family-friendly class at most any YMCA, kid-friendly fitness club, or yoga studio. There’s even a Zumba class for kids. I sometimes do a bootcamp-style group workout at the local park, and a lot of parents bring along their adolescent and teen kids. I’ve seen some pretty heated mother-daughter burpee contests.

6. Get activity trackers.

Have everyone in the family wear a basic FitBit (or similar) activity tracker and let the competitive juices flow. You can use the accompanying app to send taunts and cheers or to compete on a leader board. Establish a fun reward for whoever logs the most steps in a week (e.g. winner gets to pick the title for family movie night) or via a daily step challenge.

7. Join the school run club.

Many elementary and middle schools have running clubs, which are a fantastic way to get kids moving with their friends and classmates. At my kids’ school, you’ll see dozens of children (some joined by a parent) joyfully running laps before the morning bell rings. Last year, many of these kids logged more than 100 miles by the summer break! Don’t have a running club at your school? Create one! Check out Marathon Kids as a starting point.

8. Ditch the sugary sports drinks.

You could fill a kiddie pool with the amount of syrupy sports drink on the sidelines of my kid’s soccer game. There’s a plethora of healthier alternatives to traditional sports drinks—which are loaded with artificial ingredients and sweeteners. My kids like low-sugar Skratch Labs products made from natural ingredients—add the drink powder to a water bottle to taste. They also make candy-like fruit drops that deliver a little energy without all the crud.

9. Ride bikes to school (or part-time jobs).

Or scooter or walk or skate. Bookending the school day with some physical activity is fun, clears the head and is just gratifying (and you’ll avoid those notorious drop-off/pickup lines). Organize the neighborhood kids to bike caravan to and from school twice a week—you’ll enjoy it as much as they do.

10. Rethink the school lunch.

As with healthy eating in general, we make less-than-ideal decisions when we’re tight on time and options. Prepare the next day’s lunch (yours too) the night before so you have enough time to clean and chop fresh fruit/vegetables, and make a healthy sandwich so you can ditch the packaged chips and cookies. Consider reserving some ingredients/leftovers from dinner for school lunches, and instead of packing dinner back in the fridge, dish it into a reusable, portioned-out lunch box. Your morning routine will be a little less hectic, and everyone will eat better.

]]>Knee pain is so common among runners that the injury, officially called patellofemoral pain syndrome, is often referred to as “runner’s knee.” This pain starts when your knee cap isn’t tracking smoothly as you bend and straighten the knee joint.

You feel the pain on the front of the knee, underneath the knee cap or around the edges. It’s usually worse when you’re running, going up stairs, or after prolonged sitting with your knees bent, such as during a long drive.

Numerous factors can cause runner’s knee, and getting rid of it for good involves strengthening and balancing all the muscles in the chain from hip to ankle. Many, however, can find initial relief from a few tactics to get the knee cap tracking more smoothly and reduce forces on the knee while running.

1) Stretch Your Quads

One of the first things to try is stretching the front of your leg. “Quadriceps flexibility should be primary,” says Phil Wharton, musculoskeletal therapist and mobility expert. The quadriceps straighten the knee joint, pulling directly over the knee cap. Stretching this muscle group releases pressure on the knee cap and often allows it to track better.

To stretch the quadriceps, first lie on your side in a fetal position with your knees pulled up and your hips stacked squarely on top of each other. Reach down with your lower arm and grab the bottom of your foot or hold onto your shin to keep that leg from moving. With your top hand, grab the front of your top ankle and rotate that leg down and back by contracting the muscles in your butt and the back of your leg. Take care to stay in the same plane—don’t let your knee drift up and open your hips. Pulling your lower leg tight to your butt focuses the stretch on the quad above your knee; pulling backwards so the knee moves behind your torso stretches the upper quad and hip flexor. Move to your natural end range of motion, then bring the leg back into a relaxed position stacked on top of the other. Repeat 8 to 10 times on each side. Since this movement is working on release and range of motion (not a static stretch to lengthen the muscle), you can do it before or after running.

2) Strengthen Your Quads

As a second step, Wharton recommends doing seated knee extensions as a simple, gentle, and effective method to improve knee tracking and stability. Studies have shown that strengthening the muscles around your knee can reduce pain. Start by sitting on a chair or bench with your feet flat on the ground. Lift one foot until the leg is straight and locked in front of you. The muscles above your knee on the top of your thigh will be contracted; squeeze them as tight as you can and hold for 5 to 8 seconds, breathing deeply. Relax and drop your leg. Repeat 8 to 10 times on each side. You can increase the resistance by adding ankle weights. This exercise can be done anywhere at any time and often provides immediate relief by aligning your knee cap in addition to strengthening the muscles to prevent further injury and pain.

3) Lower Your Heel

Choosing a shoe with a lower heel height can reduce the forces on your knee and often relieve pain. Running shoes are built with different levels of heel-to-toe drop, or the difference in height between the heel and the forefoot. Those who espoused minimalism claimed that a lower heel drop was more natural and inherently better. Simon Bartold, podiatrist, biomechanical researcher and consultant with Solomon, argues, however, “There’s no such thing as good or bad drop, it is how you use it.”

A shoe’s drop changes your center of mass over the shoe. “If you have a higher drop shoe, it is going to shift your center of mass forward, and if you have a lower drop shoe it’s going to shift your center of mass backwards,” Bartold explains. That backwards shift reduces the rotation going through the knee joint, and thus reduces the load on the knee. Bartold points out, however, “You have to put the load somewhere else. You can reduce the load at the knee, but you will increase it at the ankle joint.”

Understanding this allows you to move the stress around to spare areas where you are weak. “If you’ve got somebody who has chronic anterior knee pain, it would be completely sensible to put them in a lower drop shoe, or even get them to do some barefoot training, providing you monitor what is going on at the ankle,” Bartold says. Whatever change you make is going to stress your body in a new way, so make gradual adjustments to avoid replacing one injury for another. You might at first choose a shoe with an 8mm drop rather than 12mm, or, you could only run a few miles a week in a low-to-zero-drop shoe to start. As you adapt to your new shoes, your stride may subtly change as well, which may further reduce knee stress.

4) Take Quicker Steps

Another way to manipulate forces is to play with your cadence, or how many steps you take each minute. While your body naturally chooses a cadence that is most economical for your stride, studies have shown that increasing your step rate can substantially reduce the load on your hips and knees.

Don’t get caught up in the idea that there is a perfect cadence for everyone, often cited at 180 steps per minute. “That’s something that I argue against vehemently,” says Bryan Heiderscheit, a leading researcher on cadence at the University of Wisconsin. “The idea that there is single optimum for all flies in the face of the science.” Your best cadence will depend on your speed, flexibility, strength and stride mechanics, and most of the time you can trust your body to optimize it.

It’s when you have a problem, like knee pain, that Heiderscheit recommends playing with your cadence. “Whatever your turnover is, measure it at a particular speed, then go for trial a run with an increase of 5 to 8 percent, and see if it changes your symptoms,” he says. “If it does, great, use that strategy for a period of time to get those symptoms under control.” The new pattern will require more effort, so it doesn’t have to be permanent, although you may find the new turnover becomes your new default.

You can actually count how many steps you take per minute, but far easier is to monitor your cadence using a smart watch or fitness tracker. Most of the time you can increase turnover just by focusing on stepping faster. Many find it easier to focus on swinging their arms quicker, and their legs follow the rhythm.

Heiderscheit warns that some people who just try to step faster end up with a “really wonky form.” Increasing cadence works best if you also work on moving your stride from reaching in front of you to pushing behind you. “If you’re going to increase your step rate, also try to land with your foot closer under your hips,” Heiderscheit recommends.

The Scoop: About the the time Adidas started to make waves with its innovative Boost midsole foam made from TPU, it sent its engineers back to work to develop something new. Last year, as every other brand was still scrambling to catch up to Boost, Adidas unveiled its new EVA-blended Bounce foam. The Aerobounce ST lightweight trainer is one of the first shoes to feature the energetic new midsole compound and our wear-testers were pretty impressed with it, mostly because it had a great cushion-to-weight ratio. Like the Boost midsole compound, Bounce foam offers both luxurious cushion and a bouncy feeling, but, let’s face it, it’s not Boost. The Bounce foam comes off as being softer, slightly heavier and less energetic than Boost. It serves up a comfortable, moderately soft and mostly dampened ride.

Who’s It Best For: If you’re a novice to intermediate runner who’s not necessarily training to run a race fast (or any race at all), the Aerobounce can be an ideal shoe for a variety of training runs. It’s not going to be very versatile or dynamic, but it’s still a quality shoe that can eat up some miles if you’re training for a longer race.

Plus: With a $100 price tag, this is a bargain of a shoe. It shows that you can still get a good pair of running shoes without breaking your budget or your piggy bank.

Minus: While this could be the marathon or half marathon shoe of choice for some runners, it doesn’t have the giddy up to run shorter and faster efforts for 5K, 10K or tempo runs.